Etymologically
Log in

útlagi

History Permalink

Etymology and origin of the Old Norse word útlagi

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1250 the Old Icelandic text THETUBROT (IcePaHC) More words from the 13th century
Ultimate origin
Old Norse útlagr
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Old Norse útlagi
English outlaw

Forms

útlagi m (genitive útlaga)[1] Fritzner treats útlagi also as a by-form of the adjective útlagr “outlawed”, and Menota lemmatises its forms as an adjective.[2][3]

Etymology

It is a weak masculine noun from Old Norse útlagr (“outlawed, banished”).[4][5] The adjective is made of út (“out”) and the stem of leggja (“to lay”), which with the adverb meant “to sentence to outlawry”;[6][4] Etymonline analyses it as the adverb and lǫg (“law”), the plural of lag.[5] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon compares Faroese útlægur and Norwegian Nynorsk utlæg.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

IcePaHC's first token is the dative plural útlögum, in the text it dates 1250 and calls THETUBROT.[7] Menota's oldest dated text with the word is AM 519 a 4to of 1270–1290, which has útlagi;[3] Menota also has it in the Njáls saga of AM 132 fol (1320–1350),[8] and Fritzner quotes from that saga hann er útlagi bæði Danakonungs ok Svíakonungs “he is an outlaw of both the Danish king and the Swedish king”.[2]

Semantic evolution

In the laws an útlagi is a man who has forfeited his peace, whom anyone may kill;[2][9] with a genitive he is the outlaw of the king who had him condemned (útlagi Dana konungs).[1][2] Used as an adjective, útlagi also means “excluded from”, as in útlagi lands ok lífs “forfeit of land and life”.[2][10] In Icelandic law the adjective útlagr more often meant “liable to a fine”.[1]

Old English borrowed the noun as ūtlaga, which gave Middle English outlaue and English outlaw.[6][11][5][12] Cox reports that Scottish Gaelic ùdail “churlish, inhospitable” has been compared with útlagi, but McDonald thinks the link uncertain for its sense.[13] Modern Icelandic keeps útlagi.[4]

Timeline

  • 1250 – útlögum in the text IcePaHC calls THETUBROT.[7]
  • 1270–1290 – útlagi in AM 519 a 4to.[3]
  • 1290–1310 – utlagum, utlage in Holm perg 17 4to.[14]
  • 1320–1350 – útlagi, útlaga in Egils saga and Njáls saga in AM 132 fol.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. an outlaw, a person who has forfeited his peace and the protection of the law.[2][1][9]
  2. with a genitive: one outlawed by a given king or people.[2][1]

Adjective

  1. banished, outlawed (= útlagr).[2][10][15]
  2. excluded from something, forfeit of it.[2]

Word family

  • útlegð

Descendants

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 671
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. útlagi
  3. ^ a b c Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 519 a 4to
  4. ^ a b c d e Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. útlagi
  5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com, p. s.v. outlaw
  6. ^ a b de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 636
  7. ^ a b Wallenberg, Joel C.; Ingason, Anton Karl; Sigurðsson, Einar Freyr; Rögnvaldsson, Eiríkur, Icelandic Parsed Historical Corpus, version 0.9
  8. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 132 fol
  9. ^ a b A Lexicon of Medieval Nordic Law, Digital Humanities Institute, University of Sheffield, p. s.v. útlagi
  10. ^ a b Möbius, Theodor (1866), Altnordisches Glossar, Leipzig: Teubner, p. 482
  11. ^ a b Björkman, Erik (1900–1902), Scandinavian Loan-Words in Middle English, 2 vols, Halle: Niemeyer (Studien zur englischen Philologie 7, 11), p. 224
  12. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018), p. s.v. outlaue
  13. ^ Cox, Richard A. V. (2024–2026), Old Norse Loan-Words in Scottish Gaelic, Clann Tuirc, richardavcox.scot/ONlwSG, p. s.v. ùdail
  14. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. Holm perg 17 4to
  15. ^ Jón Þorkelsson (1876), Supplement til islandske Ordbøger, Reykjavík, p. 80
Cite this entry

“Útlagi.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/non/%C3%BAtlagi. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·